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Angels of Rebirth
The Angels of Rebirth are something of an unusual chapter, even among the Successors of the Blood Angels. Borrowing many Ideas from the Raven Guard their tactics, chapter beliefs and mannerisms tend to distance them from many other loyalist chapters. Despite their close ties to both the Blood Angels and the Raven Guard they tend to distance themselves from other successor chapters, with the exception of the Lamenters, viewing them as having deviated from the original vision of the Emperor and Sanguinius. Chapter History The origins of this Chapter are unusual and unique. Sometime in M33 a large force of the Imperial Guard, along with several companies from both the Blood Angels and the Raven Guard, went to the recently discovered Herleven System with a Mechanicus Explorator fleet, which was under attack from Heretic Astartes of the Iron Warriors Traitor Legion. Shortly after arriving in the system it was enveloped in a massive warp storm that cut it off entirely. After two full centuries of silence and with a large Ork WAAGH! passing through the neighboring systems, the Imperial forces that had been sent there were officially declared dead. However, when the warp-storm finally dissipated, they found that the Imperial forces in the Herleven System had not only survived, but thrived. War for Herleven While the warp storm enveloped the System the Imperial forces battled the arriving Traitor forces. After a three day battle in space over the primary planet, Herleven, the Loyalist forces had lost half the Mechanicus fleet and were in dire need of aid. Finding themselves trapped in the system and without outer communications, the Blood Angels Captain Elias and the Raven Guard Shadow Captain Arthas worked out a desperate plan in an attempt to destroy the Iron Warriors flagship, Crusher of Hope. The Blood Angels Battle Barge, Bloodmoon, alongside two imperial Navy Strike Cruisers, and three Frigates, would signal the Iron Warriors and challenge them to battle. Meanwhile the Raven Guard's Strike Cruisers would go into orbit around the planet's moon, Patmos, and shut down as many systems as possible in order to stealthily flank the Iron Warriors. The plan succeeded but at great cost. The Bloodmoon was destroyed before the Raven Guard could join the fray and near the end of the battle, most of the Raven Guard force was lost when the central Strike Cruiser suffered a dire malfunction during a critical moment when it attempted to fire it's Jovian pattern Nova Cannon, which failed catastrophically, causing the vessel to suffer a cascade failure as the ship's warp engines exploded spectacularly, destroying two of the three cruisers. After the Battle Finding themselves trapped in the newly conquered system and having lost the leadership of both space marine chapters, the Imperials only hope of survival lay in settling the system. Giving the second uninhabitable, but resource rich, planet to the Mechanicus, as well as the moon Petros to become a Forgeworld, what was left of the imperial forces quickly settled on Herleven. The remaining Blood Angels and few Raven Guard, cut off from the rest of their chapters, likewise settled on the planet establishing the Fortress-Monastery, Heaven's Rest. Rediscovery During mid-M34, the warp storm that had enveloped the system finally subsided and a Rouge Trader fleet entered with the intention of claiming the system for the Imperium, only to find that the lost imperial Forces had not only survived, but thrived. In the thousand years since, cut off from the rest of the Imperium, Herleven had been settled by what remained of the Imperial Guard and Navy. The remaining Astartes, after establishing their Fortress-Monastery, were descendants of the Blood Angels and Raven Guard remnants, with only a single Blood Angels' dreadnought remaining from the original Imperial expeditionary force. After reestablishing contact with the rest of the Imperium there was much concern as to what to do with the world and the new Astartes, now numbering 350. The High Lords of Terra believed they should be reintegrated with the Blood Angels (who had recently suffered major losses) and Raven Guard while the Astartes themselves petitioned to be established as a new chapter. Before anything could be decided, crisis arrived in the form of a massive Ork WAAAGH! that swept through the neighbouring systems. The local Imperial forces, having been weakened by an earlier WAAAGH! a century previous, would have stood little chance against the greenskin tide were it not for the Astartes of the Herleven System coming to their aid. After the destruction of this newest WAAAGH!, the High Lords finally agreed to establish a new chapter on Herleven as part of the 7th Founding to protect those systems, though none of the remnants would be a part of the new chapter as they were reintegrated into their original chapters, the chapter still reveres them as their earliest heros. Notable Campaigns War for Crosis 445.M34 ''The first war the chapter fought in after it's founding. Following a Mechanicus distress signal the 1st and 2nd companies along with other local Imperial forces arrived in the Crosis system to find a Mechanicus fleet doing battle with a minor Ork WAAAGH for control of the Planet Crosis-3. the Mechanicus had found the remains of a lost Titan legion on Crosis-3 and were in the process of salvaging/repairing the God-Machines when the Ork WAAAGH had swept into the system. Utterly unwilling to let the Orks claim the ancient machines, the Mechanicus instead engaged the Orks in a battle for the system. By the time the Angels of Rebirth arrived the Mechanicus fleet had been decimated by the Orkish forces, with the remaining rapidly building whatever fortifications and desperately trying to revive the Ancient God-Machines. with the 1st company remaining with the fleet in order to engage the Remaining Ork warships. On the surface the situation was grim, the defense, while solid, were starting to give way before the endless hordes of Greenskins. The arrival of the Astartes was enough to drive the horde back for a time, but the 2nd company Captain Nero knew that they had only bought a short reprieve. Sure enough the following morning the Ork forces renewed their assault. Seeing no other way to victory the 2nd counter-assaulted the Orks in order to get a force of Tech-priests to an ancient bunker, deep in the now Ork held territory. When they arrived they found that the Bunker had remained, almost entirely intact. Deep within the bunker the Tech-priests found that the bunker was actually a munitions depot for Deathstrike missiles dating back to the Great Crusade. Deep in the Ork held Territory with nearly all of the 2nd company dead Captain Nero decided to sacrifice himself and his company in order to destroy the Orks. As the remainder of the company held back the Ork hordes for as long as they could, the Tech-Priests used what funtional machinery they could find to move and fire the Deathstrike missiles managing to fire nearly a dozen missiles at the Ork Battle ships before the line broke. Before the Orks could enter the depot to claim their prize Captain Nero, wounded and near death, revealed his final plan. Knowing there was no way they could hold out against the Orks long enough to fire all the missiles, and being unwilling to allow the Orks to claim them, he had instructed his remaining Techmarine to rewire as many missiles as he could to be set of simultaneously. As Nero's body hit the ground, a final prayer escaping his lips, the missiles exploded in a blast that not only vaporized the bunker but most of the remaining Orks. Nero's sacrifice made possible the recovery of the Titan's, and as thanks for their aid the Mechanicus made for the young chapter, numerous vehicles such as Thunderhawks and Land Raiders as the chapter had nearly none at the time of their founding. ''Antolies Wrath space hulk 102.M35 After the space hulk Antolies Wrath crashed into the moon of Calvicle-5 the 1st company was sent in to salvage what they could only to find a war band of Chaos also there. After 23 days of searching and battle, the 1st company of managed to drive the Traitor marines from the Hulk and claim the prize, the remains of the Ark Mechanicus Soul of Steel and a STC for modified Cataphractii pattern Terminator armor dating back to the Horus Heresy. Upon returning to the Herleven system the Chapter Master of the Angels, Harbringer Irondale, gave the Ark Mechanicus and STC to the Master Fabricator of Patmos in return for the promise of sets of Terminator Armor. They did not disappoint, using the STC, the Forge World would regularly manufacture sets of the modified Terminator armor, Dubbed Zephyr ''Terminator Armor, for the Angels of Rebirth leading to them having more sets of Terminator Armor than most other chapters 'Mallorn Crusade 245.M36 'In Segmentum Obscurus in 242.M36 a Large Orkish WAAAGH had sprung from seemingly nowhere and swallowed nearly 100 Imperial systems before running down. Infuriated by the loss of the Imperial Worlds, and worried about the defense of Cadia, the High Lords of Terra ordered a crusade to be organized to retake the worlds and ensure Cadia remained secure. For the Crusade the Raven Guard, Iron Sights, and Angels of Rebirth Chapters agreed to aid in the Campaign. This was the first time the three chapters would fight together. Many an Orkish Horde fell to lighting strikes from the Raven Guard while trying to contend with the Fury of the Angels of Rebirth, all while the largest Orks were whittled down by precise fire from the Iron Sights. During the Crusade all three chapters gained a mutual respect for each other and the Iron Sights even overcame the distrust of the Iron Hands towards the Raven Guard. Eventually the Campaign would separate the Chapters. The Raven Guard would leave the crusade, called away to another battlefield, while the Iron Sights would remain with the main force and continue to devestate Ork held worlds. The Angels of Rebirth were sent with a force to Cadia to find it under attack by chaos forces led by the Black Legion. With the hatred the sons of Sanguinius hold for the blood of Horus, the Angels of Rebirth would scour the Planet with such fury the Chapter still speaks of it with pride. The Iron Sights during the Campaign saved the 1st company of the Angels of Rebirth from a Force of Ork Gargants. To show their gratitude after the crusade the Lord Harbinger (Chapter Master) of the Angels of Rebirth gifted the Iron Sights with a Set of Zephyr pattern Terminator Armor. 'Alliance War 987.M41''' Defense of Ania-Anga 032.M42 After the destruction of Cadia, Abaddon felt confident enough to try striking at the Forge World of Ania-Anga, a vitally important Forge World. He arrived in system with a massive force, only to find the defenders up to the challenge. Every planet in the system had been equipped with Orbital defenses, so even if the Despoiler tried to establish a base in the system, it would be hard fought for. In addition to the Mechanicus' own defenses there was also the majority of the local Battlefleet, as well as both the Angels of Rebirth and the Exalted Paladins chapters. While they managed to stop the Warmaster of Chaos from ever setting foot upon the Forge World it was a hard fought victory, with the defenders taking heavy losses despite their superior numbers. Eventually the War culminated in the Despoiler trying to take the Angels of Rebirth out of the fight by boarding their Battle-Barge Fist of Herleven where he was confronted by the Angels of Rebirth Chapter Master, Lord Harbinger Koios Vivifica in a battle that greatly resembled the battle aboard the Vengeful Spirit. While Abaddon may have been mightier than the Lord Harbinger he was weary from earlier fighting, and could scarcely react in his heavy Terminator armor, to the lightning attacks of his lighter armored foe, both physical and psychic. Before he could strike a lethal blow however, more of the Black Legion intervened, giving the Despoiler time to retreat. While they failed to kill Abaddon, they achieved a great victory in forcing the Despoiler to withdraw from combat. Since then, the battle between them has begun to spread through the Imperium as a new legend, already spiraling out of all reality of the battle. Chapter Homeworld Herleven is a Death world of surprising beauty. Most visitors marvel at the vast Blinding deserts with sand like crushed crystal, unaware that it is plagued with Sandstorms powerful enough to flay a man in seconds, or with the Poles arctic forests of vast trees of a silvery-grey which shelter countless fierce predators. What civilization there is has only been able to take form in 7 cities centered around polar volcanoes, the few large desert oasis and beneath the invisible mountains, a small mountain range made almost entirely out of near perfectly transparent quartz. The 7 Cities While many of the planets inhabitants live in a nomadic lifestyle there exist 7 cities across the surface of the planet, due to having been cut off from the rest of the Imperium for centuries, each city was built to fulfill one of the needs of the planet and each named for a Virtue. Most inhabitants of the cities will never leave their birth city as the planets ecosystems are too hostile for any but the toughest to survive. Diligence contains most of the planets foundries and uses a local volcano to power the vast forges. Intelligence, near to diligence is where the brightest children of the other cities are sent to be educated and given a chance to join the Adeptus Mechanicus, or if their talents lean toward combat, train to become officers in the Imperial Guard. It is considered a rare privilege to have a child sent to Intelligence, one usually reserved for the children of nobles. Wisdom is the smallest of the cities and is based around the administration and archives of the system. Hope, largest of the cities is built between in the Blinding desert between two large oasis and is used primarily for agricultural purposes. Preparation has the highest population of the cities as is used as a secondary manufacture as well as where the recruits for the PDF are drawn from. Penance '''is the last of the cities on the surface, Penance is built around the planets largest mountain range where the the systems prisoners are forced to mine. Valor Last of the 7 cities, '''Valor '''is built under the Invisible Mountains and is based around supporting Heaven's Rest the Fortress-Monastery of the Angels of Rebirth. Unlike the rest of Herleven the mountains of quartz provide protection from the elements while also letting light through, creating an unusual paradise on the planet. The mortal population of the city are raised from birth to become serfs for the Astartes. Chapter culture The Angels of Rebirth's culture is considered unique among the Blood Angels and their successors. One of the larger deviance is the belief that Sanguinius is not dead and will return when the Emperor decends from the Golden Throne. They believe that in his battle with Sanguinius's soul was shattered by Horus's betrayal and chaos magic, his nobility, wisdom, and valor becoming the Sanguinor, while his, wrath became the Black Rage. Thus they tend to venerate those afflicted with the Black Rage as being host to a fragment of their Primarch's soul. Because of this they have developed a mutual distrust and even hatred for chapters like the '''Flesh Tearers and Templars of Blood, who treat their Death Company with much greater disregard. Also, unlike other successors of the Blood Angels the Battle-Brother rarely fall to the influence of the Red Thirst. While they may claim the cause to be greater faith than other chapters however the truth is far more sinister. Unknown outside of the chapter, the Angels of Rebirth long ago found a way to stave off the influence of the Red Thirst by use of a ritual that borders on heretical. By drinking the blood of other Astartes, descended from other Primarchs, in a ritual conducted by their Sanguinary Priests they can temporarily silence the urge to drink the blood of others, for a time at least. They greatly fear this bloody ritual being discovered by those outside of the chapter. When an Imperial Commissar accidentally witnessed one such ritual using the blood from a slain marine from the Salamanders while the 2 chapters fought together to free a planet from the Tau. Upon discovering the Commissar had seen the ritual, the captain of the Angels of Rebirth had a scout place a plasma bomb in the commissar's tent to prevent him from telling others, blaming the assassination on the Tau. Above all the Chapter prepares itself for the return of Sanguinius and the God-Emperor by hunting for as many relics of the Loyalist Legions as they can, typically returning it to the respective chapter, as well as hunting members of the Black Legion with a passion to match that of the Dark Angel's hunt for the Fallen. Whenever a opportunity for either arises the Angels of Rebirth will give it priority over all other activities. This has led them to become experts on battling the forces of Chaos but spend less time dealing with Xenos threats leading to a rather small representation in the Deathwatch. Similar to the Blood Angels the chapter places great emphasis on personal craftsmanship following the example of Sanguinius and many use what time they are not in combat to improve their skills. Some are artists to match the greatest remembrancers or spend their time improving their wargear, believing focusing on these tasks will help reduce the cravings of the Red Thirst. Combat doctrine The combat doctrine of the Angels of Rebirth shows a mix of Blood Angel and Raven Guard tactics. Whenever facing a entrenched enemy such as heretics or Tau, Scout marine are sent first with stealth reminiscent of the Raven Guard to find and secure drop sites and place teleport homers, as well as preform what acts of sabotage that can be preformed without revealing their presence. As the main force attacks from the front to draw the attention of their foes, they use the drop sites and teleport homers to infiltrate Angels of Rebirth Terminators and even Death Companies behind enemy lines to attack when their foes least expect in a storm of Bolter fire, plasma, and chainswords. Such is the power pf the sudden assaults that most foes cannot withstand it and even such experts in the art of defense as the traitor Iron Warriors have been forced from planets through it. When facing more mobile or unorganized enemies such as Eldar, Orks, and Tyrinids they typically rely on similar tactics as the Blood Angels of rapid assult, making use of their higher numbers of Terminators by using Stormravens or Land Raiders to rapidly bring Terminators into close combat with the enemy. Wargear Due to the larger than standard amount of Terminator armor the chapter possesses, the Angels of Rebirths Techmarines have long worked on how to maximize their potential leading to several unique pieces of wargear. * Petros heavy grav-chute-'' a extensively modified grav-chute, the Petros heavy grav-chute allows for the companies Zephyr or Indomitus Terminators to deploy from high-altitude. The high cost of producing these Chutes makes them a rare and valuable resource for any Chapter. * ''Cameleoline Teleport beacon-'' A smaller, more mobile Teleportation homer coated in Camoline are used by the Angels of Rebirth, as well as other stealth based chapters. Trading reliability for subtlety, they are placed behind enemy lines and used to infiltrate the larger, less mobile Terminators behind enemy lines in order to deliver a crushing blow when foes least expect it. * ''Gatling Bolter- A tri-barreled bolter capable of firing standard bolts at rapid speed while remaining stable. While slightly lighter than a heavy bolter, it only fires normal bolts, trading the heavy bolts armor piercing capabilities for sheer quantity. Angels of Rebirth Terminators commonly field them against lightly armored foes. * Zephyr-pattern Tactical Dreadnaught armor- Recovered from the Space Hulk Antolie's Wrath the Zephyr-pattern Terminator armor at first glance is indistinguishable from the Cataphractii-pattern. Designed on the Ark Mechanicus Soul of Steel during the Horus Heresy but was never put into production before the ship was lost to the warp. The STC for it was recovered by the Angels of Rebirth and put into production on the Forge World Patmos. The Zephyr differs from standard Cataphractii in that it uses more powerful synthetic muscles and more advanced Auto balancers to enable faster movement. For power it has a power generator based on the Atomantic power generator of the Contemptor Dreadnoughts, providing greater power at the risk of possible overloading when damaged. While most commonly found in the Angels of Rebirth, sets of this armor can also be found in the armories of other chapters, particularly successors of the Blood Angels. * Cryptus Glass weapons- During the Angevin Crusade the planet Cryptus was retaken by the Imperium and had the foundation was laid for a grand temple to the Emperor. the material chosen for building the temple was glass made from the crystal sands of Herleven. After the destruction of the temple it was found that shards of the glass temple were effective weapons against many denizens of the warp, and further experimentation revealed that when formed into glass and blessed by a Herald (Angels of Rebirth Chaplin) it had the same effective. Many of the Angels of Rebirth now carry a weapon forged from the glass ranging from a knife, to shotgun shells, to even a grenade encased in the glass. All of the weapons are fragile and only survive 1 use, similarly the weapons possess no supernatural power against other foes like Tyranids, Orks, Tau, Eldar, and Necrons. Chapter Relics * ''Armor of the Dawn ''- A set of Artificer Armor that resembles the armor worn by Sanguinius, the Armor of the Dawn is the chapters most prized relic. Similar in appearance to the armor worn by the Sanguinary Guard, what really sets it apart in terms of appearance is the seeming lack of a jump pack, and the mask, which is instead of Sanguinius' death mask, is a mask resembling his face while he lived leading many to believe that the armor was made before the death of the Primarch. Designed to be worn by a Space marine Pysker the armor is only truly at it's peak when worn by a Librarian. By uniquely channeling the Librarian's psychic power, it generates a psychic shield that makes the armor as durable as Terminator armor. Furthermore, and most impressively, the Librarian the armor can further channel his psychic power to manifest a set of wings of white light that grant the wearer the ability to soar the air like the Primarch Sanguinius. The cost is that maintaining these takes so much power that if the Librarian were to try to use his power in other ways, while maintaining the armor, it would quickly tire him and leave him vulnerable. * The Fury of Betrayal '- ''Made from the same Angelsteel as the Glaives Encarmine, the Fury of Betrayal is a long bladed power spear made after the death of Sanguinius. What sets it apart as a weapon is it's effect on members of the Black Legion. Said to channel the fury of Sanguinius at his moment of death, the spear's destructive power multiplies at the taste of the blood of Horus, causing it to ignite into a blood red flame that consumes the creatures of Chaos while leaving all else unharmed. Gene-Seed Like all other descendant chapters of the Blood Angels they suffer from the genetic curses of the Red Thirst and Black Rage. Unlike some other chapters they retain almost Identical Gene-seed to their parent chapter, making them ideal doners of gene-seed after the 7th black crusade. Chapter Organization Unlike many other Blood Angel chapters the Angels of Rebirth are notably non-Codex Astartes compliant, deviating from it on many points. Most obvious is that they don't consider their Death Company to count towards the number of Battle-Brothers in their chapter claiming that they "have a higher purpose than serving as a simple soldier". The Chapter maintains anywhere from 10-20 Death Company marines per company, to be used as need requires, meaning that in theory the number of Astartes could potentially rise to over the normal 1000 normally allowed. However, given the low survival rate of neophytes and the Chapters regular missions and crusades, this is a rare occurrence. Another deviation from the Codex is that, instead of having initiates serve as scout marines, they are instead inducted into either a Tactical squad or Assault squad depending on his talents, while their scouts, given their importance for their infiltration skills, are generally comprised of more experienced Marines. Over half of the companies therefore has at least 1 squad of Scout marines (except the 1st, 2nd,3rd, and 4th) as well as at least 1 Tactical, Devastator, and Assault Squad. This enables the companies to function relativity autonomously. Usually the chapter uses this to it's advantage in order to pursue multiple goal at a time, but this sometimes is a problem as a single company sometimes is not enough to achieve victory, therefore the companies act in pairs most of the time. The final major deviance from the Codex Astartes is the number of Terminators in their squads. Due to their larger-than-standard amount of terminators the 2nd through 4th companies are all able to field Terminators if need be, though many captains are reluctant to risk such valuable assets. Companies Chapter Fleet The Angels of Rebirth have only a modest sized fleet, requiring them to rely on local Imperial forces to win major engagements in space having only 2 Battle Barges 6 Strike Cruisers 12 Escort ships Chapter Heros '''The Old Guard- The original Blood Angels and Raven Guard marines that first secured the system and built the beginnings of Heaven's Rest. Considered the first marines of the Angels of Rebirth, their names are spoken with honor in the halls of the Fortress-Monastery. Chapter Master Joseph Snow- The first Chapter Master, Joseph was the founder of many of the chapters traditions. Surprisingly, it wasn't him that started the tradition of calling the Chapter Master Lord Harbinger, but rather the Captains. During his time as Chapter Master, he finished the construction of Heaven's Rest, led the chapter through it's first major war, and established the system of government for Herleven. While he wasn't the greatest warrior leader the Chapter ever had, much of the chapters traditions and infrastructure owes it's existence to him. 2nd Company Captain Nero- While he only had a brief tenure as a Captain, he played a vital role during the Chapters first war, the War for Crosis. Desperate to save a lost Titan legion from being cannibalized by Orks for scrap, he led his company on a mission to recover a bunker of deathstrike missiles, and used many of them to decimate the Ork fleet and hordes. Though the second company was decimated to a man, thanks to their heroics the Titans were successfully recovered and as thanks for their heroic sacrifice, the Adeptus Mechanicus gifted the chapter many much needed vehicles of war, from Land Raiders to Thunderhawks. Sargent Vimes- A typical space marine of the Angels of Rebirth until a fateful day on the Civilized World of Anke-4 which had started rebelling against the Imperium. The Space marines had been sent in to reinforce the Guard already there, and Sargent Vimes had his squad reinforce the Guardsmen line and prevent the rebels from overrunning them. For 2 days he and the guard fought valiantly, on the third however, without warning, he suddenly descended into the Black Rage and attacked the rebels so fiercely that, though alone in his assault, he drove off well over a thousand rebels. By the time the rest of his squad found out what had happened, he had already disappeared. 2 hours later the rebels suddenly surrendered to the Imperial Forces claiming the leaders of the uprising had abandoned them and vanished. When searching the city, the Astartes forced some of the now prisoner rebels to lead them to their HQ. When they got there they found utter carnage. Vimes had already found his way there in the midst of the Black Rage and slaughtered everyone within. They found him inside with the High Chaplain who had sensed the Black Rage and come to judge Vimes. Surprisingly however, in the aftermath of his blood rampage, kneeling in shattered armor and bleeding from dozens of wounds, Vimes was surprisingly lucid. Judging him sane enough to serve with the Death Company, Vimes was taken back to Herleven and anointed with the Black and White ceramite of the Death Company. 6 years later he would take part in a ferocious assault upon the Black Legion on Ganus Prime and, unable to be restrained, chased the Traitors into the Warp Gates they conjured to escape. Presumed dead, the Space Wolves were startled when a raving giant was found wandering the wastes of Fenris 300 years later. While it was obvious he was a Astartes, his gear was too damaged to tell from what chapter. Eventually the Wolf Priests managed to coax out of him the knowledge that he was from Herleven and they returned him to the Angels of Rebirth where it became clear he was dying from something unknown. In his final days he began to speak clearly in his hallucinations about beings he had met in the warp that had helped him. He described them as giants and as demigods in great armor. His final words were, "They're not dead, just stuck". After his death many marines began to wonder whether he had encountered the missing Primarchs and what that meant. Lord Harbinger Koios Vivifica- Current Lord Harbinger of the Angels of Rebirth, and one of the oldest non-dreadnought marines still in the service of the Imperium. He is a mighty Psyker (estimated beta grade) and father to his chapter. In over a millennium of service he has served with the Deathwatch, fought countless battles against the Orks, Tyranids, Necrons, and the Forces of Chaos and among the Blood Angels Successors, considered second only to Dante and Mephiston in experience, and psychic might respectively. His greatest Accomplishment is having fought against the Warmaster of Chaos himself in a battle said to have been a continuation of the battle between Horus and Sanguinius. On this occasion however the blood of Sanguinius triumphed as Koios's spear the Fury of Betraly and artificer armor Armour of the Dawn gave him the edge in both reach and maneuverability over Abaddon's Talon of Horus and Terminator armor. With the Primarch Roboute Gulliman's return he was said to be disappointed that it was was he of all the loyalist Primarchs to return calling Gulliman both a butcher of Legions and betrayer of his brothers having forced his codex upon them and has even told the Primarch himself this. Fortress-Monastery Heaven's Rest lies beneath the Invisible Mountains of Herleven. the Fortress itself lies at the north end of Valor, separated from the city by a great wall of Crystal and Silver. Every inhabitant of Valor dreams of what the Fortress must look like. Many fantasize of a Paradisaical Palace fitting of the Emperor's angels of death, while other, wiser, men suspect a elegant, yet practical Fortress. Those who are chosen to serve the Angels as serfs are surprised to see the Fortress as a vast structure of Plasteel, Ceramite blocks, and Adamantine plates with a tower behind leading to the peak of the mountain it rests under. Surrounding the Fortress are firing ranges, armories, A large arena, and a large golden tower which stands alone. While some gun batteries line the roof of the Fortress-Monastery far more are built into the Mountains above them or lie buried in the surrounding desert, hidden in the sand. Home of Angels The inside of the main building is vastly different from the outside. Made of scarlet marble and gold, the main hall runs half the length of the building. Etched into the right wall are the names and deeds of every hero of the chapter, lined with the banners of the chapter. In the left wall are etched the names of those inducted into the Death Company. to have your name inscribed on either wall is the goal of every battle-brother. At the end of the hall rest 2 thrones, 1 higher and grander than the other. The lower throne is the chair of the Harbinger where the Chapter master sits, while the Higher throne is intended to be the throne of Sanguinius when he returns. To sit in the Throne of Sanguinius is so heretical in the eyes of the Angels of Rebirth that they would execute any who attempts it on the spot as one particularly arrogant Inquisitor learned at his expense. Tower of the Reborn Standing apart from all other structures is the Tower of the Reborn housing the chapter's Death Company. Seeing the Black Rage as a affect of housing a fragment of their Primarch's soul, those who reside within are treated with the highest reverence. Chapter Recruitment Recruiting solely from Herleven, the chapter prefers to recruit from the nomadic tribes that roam the surface rather than the inhabitants of the 7 cities. To be chosen to join the Astartes is considered to be an enormous honor and the families of the aspirants talking for generations of those chosen, unaware that many die before ever even seeing the fortress. Trial of the body Designed to test the limits of physical endurance the aspirants are taken to the northern pole of the planet, given a glass knife made from the crystal sands and told to walk to the Invisible Mountain, a distance of over a thousand Kilometers and passing through both frozen forests and harsh deserts. Having to deal with both fierce predators and deadly sandstorms, the aspirants are taken to the limits of human endurance just to survive. Those that do make it must climb the mountain above the Fortress which stands ten thousand meters tall. Trial of the soul When those few who survived reach the mountain peak, they are ushered without rest into the second trial. To descend the tower from the peak of the mountain to where it meets the Fortress-Monastery. With the tower standing at 10 kilometers tall it would take a normal man days to descend its height, but the aspirants tired from their first trial are tested and tried by the chapter every step of the way making it into a weeks long decent. Denied food and water for days at a time the Aspirants are also subjected to visions by the chapters Librarians of the horrors of what a Astartes will experience in his duty to the Emperor as well as glimpses of the disturbing nature of the warp. During his whole decent the recruit will be constantly tempted by voices over vox broadcasters to surrender, promising relief from his trial if he does. Those who make the whole decent without surrendering to either madness or exhaustion are accepted as neophytes of the chapter. Allies and Enemies Allies * Blood Angels - As a successor chapter of the Blood Angels the Angels of Rebirth maintain relatively close ties with their parent chapter including donating Gene-Seed to help rebuild the chapter after the 7th black crusade. They and the Raven Guard are the only other chapters to be allowed into Heaven's Rest and Dante is the only non-Angel of Rebirth to even know that the Ritual to stave off the Red Thirst exists, though even he doesn't know the details. * Raven Guard - As a detachment of the Raven Guard Fought along side the Blood Angels in the battle for Herleven the Angels of Rebirth view them as some of the first chapter heroes as well and have moddified some of the Raven Guard's tactics for their own use. * Dark Angels - A some what unusual alliance exists between the Chapter masters of the Dark Angels and Angels of Rebirth. While the details remain between the 2 it is noted that occasionally, whenever they have found a Traitor marine which doesn't seem to be from any of the known traitor legions and renegades chapters, they call in any nearby Dark Angels or Dark Angel successor to aid in their hunt. * Ashen Thanes - While the two rarely interacted in their early history, a crusade in M38 would bring them together. Despite being still under strength the Ashen Thanes took to the battlefield with astonishing vigor. The Angels of Rebirth, in pity for the plight of the Ashen Thanes took it upon themselves to help and protect their cousins during the crusade. Through the crusade the two chapters competed, both being CQC specialist chapters and when the crusade was over they agreed to host a tournament on Herleven to determine which was best. It was agreed that while the Angels of Rebirth were better individually, the Ashen Thanes tended to be more flexible. Ever after the two chapters have enjoyed a friendly rivalry. Enemies * Ultramarines - While not technically enemies the Angels of Rebirth hold a special detestment for Roboute Guilliman and his descendants because of the splitting of the Legions. While they will work with the Ultramarines and their successor chapters at need, they for the most part will refuse to even join crusades with them. * The Black Legion - Hating the Sons of Horus above all else for the splintering of Sanguinius and the mortal wounds Horus inflicted on the Emperor. The Angels of Rebirth view their continual struggle to destroy the Black Legion as a continuation of the battle on board the Vengeful Spirit. Quotes Feel free to add your own By the Angels of Rebirth Feel free to add your own About the Angels of Rebirth Gallery Category:Imperium Category:Blood Angels Successors Category:Space Marine Chapters Category:Space Marines Category:7th Founding